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Free-To-Play
This article describes Free-to-Play access, but it also describes various account types that alter or unlock greater access if and when you choose to upgrade a membership plan. Because the information on this page is subject to change at the discretion of Daybreak, please see the http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Talk:Free-To-Play discussion on this topic before making any major edits or removing information. Overview of Free-to-Play Free-to-Play is often written as Free To Play in online game culture. The most common abbreviation is F2P though occasionally you will see FtP. *The basic game is free-to-play, but some restrictions in areas such as spell quality and communication may apply. *There is no time limit on Free-to-Play access as there may be with similar online games. * Free To Play members start with two character slots. They can also purchase character slots individually via the Marketplace. If you downgrade from All Access, all characters that are on the account will be saved and still be visible to you. If you are over the cap of characters for your account, only the most recently logged-on characters will be available for play. Your other characters are still available if you upgrade back to All Access status or purchase additional character slots. * Without a membership, players can't use any of the "broadcast" channels, such as /auction, /level, /shout. F2P can chat with other players by using /say /tell /group and /guild. * Players can receive in-game email without a membership, but can't send in-game mail without an All Access membership. * Full broker access is only available to All Access members. If you had items for sale on the Broker when you downgrade from All Access, those items will stay on the Broker, but you will not have access to the Broker. If the items sell, the coin will stay in the Broker account until you upgrade back to All Access and can open the Broker interface again. Broker Tokens can be purchased by players with Free-to-Play accounts in order to sell items on the broker. See the in-game Marketplace for details on pricing and use. * Players who downgrade their membership from All Access do not lose any spells. Grandmaster and Ancient tier spells are a perk of membership. Players will still have access to Master tier versions of these spells while their membership is not active. They will gain full access to their Grandmaster and Ancient tier spells again when they renew their All Access membership. * Players who downgrade their membership from All Access still have available any EverQuest II expansion that they previously purchased, subject to their current EverQuest II membership limitations. * You may only create a guild if you have an All Access plan. Anyone who plays EverQuest II can join a guild. * The online self help knowledge base will be accessible to all players regardless of their EverQuest II membership status. Customer service is only provided to players who have made a monetary transaction in EverQuest II or have an All Access membership. *Some restrictions can only be removed by paying for All Access Membership. Limits that May Apply to All Membership Accounts may have limits based on the features added with the most recent expansions; as of March of 2016 all memberships are limited to level 92 unless they purchased a specific expansion. *Typically, Free-to-Play members can only play through the previous year's paid expansion content. :*With the purchase of the Tears of Veeshan expansion, all account members can advance to the maximum level 95. :*A full listing of available expansions can be found on the Expansions and Adventure Packs page. See Daybreak's Everquest II FAQ page for answers to many questions not covered on this page. Membership Plans :Due to international law, some membership benefits may not apply to those who play outside of the continental USA. There are two tiers of membership in EverQuest II. One membership type (formerly called Silver) was discontinued in 2014, though members who purchased it can still access its benefits. *Membership benefits and costs can change at any time, so check the official All Access benefits page for details. Because it is easier to understand what Free-to-Play lacks via restrictions, the benefits of All Access is listed first here. All Access :The summary below was pulled from the official All Access benefits page *Additional 5 character slots ($50 Value) *Early access to select new content releases *Double ALL alternative currency earned in-game (special currency, like Loyalty Point Tokens). *15% more coin (gold, platinum, etc.) *10% bonus mount speed *Member-only items at in-game Loyalty Merchants *Access to all spell tiers *Full access to buy and sell using the in-game broker *Unlimited Chat channel access *Full access to in-game mail *Full Guild Functionality *Preferred Status with Customer Service *Access to Special Members-Only Zones and Servers *Membership access to most of the games owned and maintained by Daybreak. *Veteran Bonus: for every max level character, receive a 20% XP bonus with a maximum of 200% (ten characters). This applies per-server not account-wide. :The above is just a summary. Other benefits may apply. See the official Everquest II FAQ for answers to additional questions not covered on this page. Recurring Memberships If you are willing to have a recurring membership, you will get a slight discount based on the number of months paid in advance. *The more months paid in advance, the greater the discount. *Prepaying can make memberships quite affordable and make it easy to assure you get any limited-time membership perks that are occasionally offered. (e.g. a free level 100 boost, a mount) :*As of 2017, the greatest discount is offered when members pay a lump sum for 1 year, bringing the monthly price down to $9.99/mo. Free-to-Play *Create up to 2 characters. *Characters are limited to Adept spells. *No access to public chat channels (e.g. Auction), but Free-to-Play can chat with other players by using /say /tell /group and /guild. Silver (Discontinued) At one time, members could pay a small fee (500 Daybreak Cash) to unlock additional features without paying for a full subscription. :The ability to do this was discontinued on July 6th, 2014, but accounts that already have these unlocks were "grandfathered in" and will not loose these benefits. ::Benefits: *2 more character slots (for a total of four) *Enabled unlimited chat channels *Allowed guild creation. *Limited characters to Expert spells *The Broker can be used for unlimited buying only. Selling on the broker requires broker tokens that must be purchased from the Marketplace. *Silver members can not send mail to other players, though they can receive mail. Payment Options for Membership Like membership benefits these payment options may change at any time, but apply as of Oct. 2016; see the official Daybreak website to verify these methods of payment. :Credit or Logo Debit Cards: *US Members can pay for subscriptions using a credit card or bank debit card with a credit logo (e.g. a debit card with a Visa logo). As of 2016, membership can not be paid with PayPal, though Marketplace purchases can, so this may change in the future. To get around this restriction, players can opt to buy a Krono (described below). :*Payment in the EU may vary based on location. :Krono: *All Access membership can be paid for by purchasing a Krono with normal, in-game currency (usually sold for enormous amounts of platinum) from the broker if other players are currently selling them. *All Access membership can be "gifted" to other players by purchasing a Krono. It can take up to 24 hours for it to appear in your inventory, but once it does, open a trade with the person you want to give membership to by right clicking on their character while logged into the game. :Game Cards: *Payment using the physical game cards (once sold at Walmart, Gamestop, etc) was discontinued in September of 2016. See the official announcement or the announcement summary on EQ2Wire. Getting Started If you are a new or returning player, you may wish to browse through our Beginner Guides. The guides may be of interest to returning players for the following reason: A great deal has changed since the game launched and continues to change. For example, guild cloaks were added in one game update; gear and mount appearance customization in another; players can now own multiple homes -and those are only a few examples! Download and Play You can begin to play EverQuest II by downloading the free (software) version. To get started visit this link on the official Daybreak website. The download button is to the right side of the page. Category:EverQuest II Category:User Guides